Radio control



Sept. 24, 1935. ..1 Q @AUBERT RADIO CONTROL Filed March 2, 1931 2 sheets-sheet 1 me/nto@ C79! JvH/v Q. GAI/amr www,

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Sept 24, 1935. 1 Q @AUBERT y 2,015,425

RADIO CONTROL Filed March 2, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 dbf/N 0; GEL/amr Patented Sept. 24, 1935 UNirED; STATES 2,015,425 RADIO coNTnoL John Q. Gaubcrt, Dayton, Ohio, assigner to Geh-I` eral Motors Radio Corporation, Dayton, llho.

a corporation of Ohio Application March 2, 193i, Serial No. illlll l Claim.

This invention relates to radio control mechanism and more particularlyV to the illumination of the instrument board during the setting or the receiver.

l/lhere power is available from lighting circuits, it is customary and feasible to illuminater the dials found on the radio receiver'whenevery the receiver is energized. In battery type re= ceivers where the power is limited it is not feasible to illuminate the dials at all tmes when the receiver is' energized, for the reason, that this would consume too much electric power and cause a rapid discharge oi the batteries.

in object oi this invention is to provide means for illuminating the dials that are energized only during the manipulation oi the controls.

Another object oi this invention is to provide a switching mechanism for the pilot circuit that includes the light lor illuminating the dial without the addition oieiitra external control inemhers.

Another object oi this invention is to provide a control mechanism that is cheap in construction, emcient, dependable and economical. "lhis has heen. accomplished by utilizing one of the con-.- trol members already on the receiver which usually has a rotary movement for changing the.

- circuit that closes the switch upon heine' actu-i ated axially against the torce oi a suitable spring. l

Further objects and advantages oi the present invention will he apparent from the followselector vor the like.

ing description, reference being had to the ac= companying drawings wherein alnreierred em-1 bodiment oi one iorm oi the present invention is clearly shown. 1

lin the drawings: y

Fig. l shows a fragmentary view ci the panel ol a radio receiver carrying the conventional control mechanism.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken. on the line 2 2 oi Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation taken in the direction ol the arrow@ of Fig. 2.

Fig. l isa detail sectional view.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation looking' in the direc` tion ol.. arrow 5 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional View taken substantially on the line G-B of Fig. i.

Fig. l has been drawn to a smaller scale than the other gures. o

In the drawings the reference character Ill indicates a panel of a. radio receiver having the control knobs il, I2 and I6 which may be the station selector, the volume control and the tone The panel it is provided 4elezcrient lt that is wound around an insulating shaped housing lfl.

(Cl. 20h-55) with the escutcheon plates it and 2li that surround the dial 22 and the tone selector indicator 2t respectively. The parte thus lar disclosed Yare illustrative and do not form a part oi the invention aside irom the combination.

lt is highly desirable that the dial 2li and the tone selector indicator l() should he illuminated while the operator manipulates the switch control memhers. This is the only time that it really is necessary to illuminate these dials. For this lo reason, a pilot light indicated in dctclash at has heen provided lor illuminating the dial. The nositiorioithis pilot light is selected so as produce the most economical illumination ci the dial and depends upon the particular design ci i5 A'ccmloined circuit control mechanism such as a resistance element lill, and switch mechanism til is carried upon a tuhular supporting memher tl having a reduced end provided. with su threads that extend through the panel lll and held iii position hy the loch nuts and Gil. The cup shaped housing il seated in an annular groove ll in the support carries a resistance support lll that is substantially cylindrical in shape as leest seen in Figs. 2 and 3. ln oroler to insidatingly support the resistance element lli, an 'annular insulating memher til and a second. insulating member 52 haslceen interposed intermediate the resistance member t@ and. the curi @ne enel ol the resistance element Ait is connected to metallic member that is provided with a wedge shaped bridge g lill having substantially Lehaoed legs 5B and. til 85 that engage the beveled ends ci the insulating strip it and wedge this in position. .as the term minal oi the resistance element Clt, that is attacheol to element lill is at the same potential as the cup shaped housing Q2, it is not necessary ,to insulatingly support element lill with respect to the cup shaped housing di.

il suitable latch il struck out ci the cue shaped l housing lrlengages a flange t6 integral with the bridge member 5t so es to loch the hrlclge 5G in 45 position thereby preventing the resistance element t@ and the insulating supporting member Il@ from getting .out of position.

The resistance adjusting mechanism includes a rotary shaft it, that may carry one of the 5o knobs li, l@ or it on the external end l2 and that is iournalled for rotation in the tubular supporting member 34. il contact lever 14 liti-,ed in the annular groove lt and held therein by the Spun edge i8 slidably contacts at 8l! with the re- 66 sistance element 46 so as to control the effective resistance which includes the portion of the resistance element 46 found between the end 82 electrically connected to the insulatinglyv'supported clip 04 and the point of contact 80 as best seen in Fig. 3, as is well known to those skilled in the art.

A spring washer 86 has been interposed between the tubular support 34 and the short circuiting member 14 so as to insure good electrical contact intermediate member 14 and the cup shaped housing 42.

The switch 32 is carried in a bracket |00 having an aperture |04 through which passes the reduced portion 3E of the tubular support 34 and that is held against the cup shaped housing 42 by a nut |06. In order to prevent rotation of the bracket |00, with respect to cup shaped housing 42, a detent |08 integral with the bracket |00 is located in an aperture ||0 in thecup shaped housing 42.

The switch 32 includes a pair of resilient leaf spring contact members ||2 and ||4 normally biased to the open position that are insulatingly carried on the bracket |00 by a plurality of insulating strips IIB clamped together by a screw ||0 passing through a suitable aperture in the bracket |00 and engaging nut |20. The ends 41 and 49 of the contact members ||2 and ||4 may be used in connecting these contact members into a suitable electrical circuit, not shown.

In order to prevent rotation of the members ||2, H4, HE and |20 suitable recesses and detents |22 have been provided in each of these members.

An insulating abutting member |24 carried in a suitable aperture in the shaft 10 engages the leaf spring contact I2 so that as the shaft 10 is actuated toward the right as viewed in Fig. 2 the |40A and |44 extend to a suitable power source which may be either A. C. or D. C. current. Clips or metallic members 54 and B4 may be used in connecting the rheostat into a suitable circuit (not shown) for a radio receiver. 5

Operation As the shaft 10 is rotated by the operator actu- `ating they control knob mounted thereon, the

magnitude of the resistance will be changed and 10 by actuating the shaft 10 longitudinally the switch contact carried by the leaf springs I2 and ||4 will close the pilot circuit. It can be readily seen that if the operator desires to select a station he merely presses the knob mounted on the 15 shaft 10 toward the panel so as to cause the dial to be illuminated. He may then rotate whatever control knob he desires. Upon the release of the pressure applied to the control knob on the shaft 10, the leaf spring I|2 restores the shaft 'l0 to 20 the out position and opens the switch 32 thereby open circuiting the pilot circuit.

While the form of embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other 25 forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claim which follows.

What is claimed is as follows:

A dual control device for a radio instrument comprising in combination, a hollow sleeve, a cup 30 shaped housing mounted thereon, a resistor element mounted in said housing, insulation means interposed between said housing and said re sistor, a bracket carried by said sleeve, two normally separated metallic switch members mountl5 ed on said bracket, insulation means between said bracket and said switch members and also between said two switch members, a shaft mounted within said sleeve for rotation and endwise movement, a contact arm secured to said shaft and in 40 engagement with said resistance element, one end of said shaft being in constant engagement with one of said switch members and said member having a sufficient degree of flexibility to move said shaft to its normal position after it has been 45 displaced endwise to operate said switch.

JOHN Q. GAUBERT. 

